Betamorphs 1: The Beginning
by Tobias Mason Park
Summary: My name is Tobias. The other day, I took a short cut through an abandoned construction site across from the mall; alone. I met an alien named Elfangor...he gave me a gift.
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

_Transmission from Earth to Andalite home planet:_

_Location: ***** ****_

_Planet of Origin: Terra Firma; known by its inhabitants as Earth_

_Speaker: aristh Aximili-Esgarrouth-Isthill to the Andalite Electorate. _

_To the Electorate of the Andalite homeworld, _

_My name is Aximili-Esgarrouth-Isthill, son of Noorlin-Sirinial-Cooraf and Forlay-Esgarrouth-Maheen. I bring this message from the planet known as Earth, hoping that it reaches you without interception from our enemies. I have spent no more than a month on this planet, and I am saddened to say that the planet is in poor shape, indeed. Our enemies, the Yeerks have organized a front in a location in North America that is to be disclosed until further notice; they will use this front to acquire more host bodies. Alone, the humans stand no chance. _

_Not too long ago, our Dome Ship—piloted by my own brother, Prince Elfangor-Sirinial-Shamtul—had been destroyed by the Yeerks. It had been a gruesome battle, made worse by the arrival of the Abomination, Visser Three. Hidden behind the moon, the Visser's private vessel had taken us by surprise and opened fire on our ship. Our vessel had been destroyed, and there were very few survivors. I am amongst those survivors; the other was my brother, Elfangor. _

_I landed on the planet Earth; the third solid body from the sun in this galaxy. It is a beautiful planet, covered mostly by water. It is full of life and inhabited by a species known as the humans. I have spent the last few weeks in my part of our Dome Ship, beneath a large body of water. I eventually reached land—after acquiring a native creature of this planet—and sought to learn more about this strange new planet. And what I discovered shocked me beyond words. _

_There is a small group of renegade fighters—no more than three, excluding myself—secretly opposing the Yeerk forces on their world. One of these fighters, a boy named Tobias, witnessed the landing of an Andalite vessel; Elfangor's vessel. My brother, having no other alternative at the time, was forced to break our law of Seerow's Kindness, and gave this boy, Tobias the Escafil device. I am told that Elfangor died soon after, at the hands of Visser Three. Since then, Tobias has given the abilities granted by our most sacred piece of technology to two other human beings; whom I am told are trustworthy. _

_I do not know very much about Tobias, or his two friends. I had been discovered by this small band of warriors after nearly exposing myself in a public human market—something of which I am ashamed, and will be sure to explain at a later date. They made their identities known to me, and asked me to help them fight the Yeerks. I am unsure if I am able to trust these three humans, but I do not appear to have much of a choice. They alone stand in the way of the Yeerks' quest for complete enslavement over the human race. I will not allow the humans to suffer the same fate of the Hork-Bajir; I will not make the same mistakes as my predecessors. _

_Bear with me, as I tell you this story about these three extraordinary young humans. I ask you only two things before continuing my tale. Firstly, I ask the electorate to send immediate back-up to Terra Firma; further delay could result in success for the Yeerk Empire. Secondly, I ask that you wait until after this story has been told to pass judgement on both Elfangor and myself for our actions here on Earth. I recognize the consequences of breaking Andalite law. However, in this war, we are not given many options. Sometimes, we must do what our hearts tell us, and ignore the whims of the mind. _

_I end this message with the following words:_

_His name is Tobias…_


	2. A Day in the life

_**Imagine a picture of the human Tobias, morphing into a red-tailed hawk…**_

_**Front Cover Quote: **_**"There's about to be a change in line-up…"**

_**Inside Front Cover Quote: **_**"Forget what you once knew…"**

My name is Tobias, and I doubt that you've ever heard of me before. It's fine. I won't hold it against you; I'm not what you would call an _outgoing _person. I'm the type of person that sits in the very back of the classroom; the guy who has his nose behind a book, secretly hoping that the teacher doesn't call his name to answer the math problem on the board…yea, I'm that guy.

"Come on Tobias, it's an easy one." The teacher would say, beaming at me.

"I'm sorry, Ms. I really have no idea…" I would reply. My face turned a deep shade of red. People would start staring at me, turning around in their chairs just to gawk at me. When the clueless kid in class starts blabbing about, that's when things get interesting; that's when everyone is suddenly wide awake in first period math.

"So, you aren't even going to try?" she would frown. "How do you know you're wrong if you don't even try?"

I shrugged and hid behind my math text book. Apparently, the teacher decided that she wasn't done with me quite yet. She walked right over to my desk, walking through the aisle of students like she was Moses crossing the red sea, and knelt down before me. I remained hidden behind my sanctuary of numbers and word problems; hoping that x-4y+x +5y would protect me from embarrassment. It didn't…

"Tobias, you have to participate in class occasionally," she whispered. People were _really _staring at me now. I can't imagine that there was a deeper shade of red than the colour of my face at that very moment. She added, "What will your parents think when they see your progress report in a few weeks?"

I put the book down on my desk, and gave the teacher a long, cold stare. Then, I said the words that nearly tears to my eyes, "I don't have any parents."

I can't imagine that she forgot about my current living situation, but she looked as though she made a social faux pas. She looked at me, horrified, and started stuttering and mumbling about, "I'm sorry Tobias…I forgot…you don't have to…does anyone else know the answer?"

Like I said, my name is Tobias. I'm also known as the loner, the new kid, and the orphan; at least, that's what my class mates call me when they can't remember my first name. I never knew my parents. I was put under the _loving custody _of a maternal aunt—who changes lovers more times than I've changed my shirt— six times out of the year, and an alcoholic uncle—who's barely conscious during the time I'm living with him—the other six months. They treat me as if I was their own pet…maybe they treat me worse than they would treat a pet. I have a pet; a cat named Dude, and I'm surprised that they let me keep him. Then again, they hardly notice that I'm living with them, so maybe I shouldn't be surprised.

The bell rang, bringing another awkward end to an even more awkward math class. The students shuffled out the door; friends laughing and joking around with each other, and the girls were texting their boyfriends to tell them to meet them at their lockers, etc. I swung my backpack over my shoulder and grabbed my math textbook, avoiding the eyes of the teacher. She looked as though she wanted to apologize again, but I left the room before she could even bother. I knew what she would say: _"Tobias, I didn't mean to make you feel so awkward in class, please forgive me. If you ever want to talk about your home life, I'm always free…"_ Which was pretty much routine, by now.

That's how I live my life; routine. If you stick to your routine, then you'll do fine. I've always thought of life like a jungle: some people are born to be lions and tigers and bears—oh my— while others are born as antelope, wildebeest, and rodents. And, if you're one of those unlucky rodents, then you have to do your best to avoid getting eaten. If the lion or the tiger is feeding at the watering hole, then you wait until he's finished and leaves; you stick to your hiding place in the tall grass, really quietly and hope that nobody can hear you breathing… And if you think that you're safe out there in the fields, minding your own business, then you're wrong. It's only a matter of time before some hawk comes around and grabs you. When you're prey, you have to live by routine.

I was walking through the halls—the tall grass in the savannah— hoping that I would remain hidden from the eyes of all the tigers, gorillas, and lions. I kept my head down, staring at the floor; clinging to my math text book. My locker was just down the hall, and there was an entire pack of wolves hanging around my den…I knew that they were waiting for me, hoping that I hadn't seen them; that they would be able to take me by surprise. But that's where they were wrong; I was expecting them! Like I said, I live my life according to routine: keep yourself out of the way at school—don't wander around during lunch—stick to your guns, get out as soon as the bell rings, and don't cause too much trouble for the big lion at home. Routine has kept me alive so far. And it would keep me alive on this very Friday afternoon.

I didn't go to my locker after first period math class. Instead I walked directly to second period: my favourite class, English. I like English for a few reasons: the teacher pretty much reads from a book for seventy-five minutes, so nobody was inclined to answer questions unless they had asked one; the class was so bored by Shakespeare and the classics that they didn't bother to pick on me; and I really did love literature.

When you're alone twenty-four hours a day, you tend to appreciate the stories you read in books. It gave me a chance to lose myself in somebody else's head; even if it was only for a few dozen chapters. And, if I wasn't interested in reading fantasy or sci-fi novels that day, I would read some non-fiction books; mostly books on birds and dinosaurs. And it's not like my aunt or uncle bought books for me; God forbid they should bother with my intellectual development. So I would have to borrow three or four books from the library. A guy like me has to take whatever he can get. Prey like me take what we can get.

Second period passed by uneventfully; like I said, my teacher just reads from the texts, and tries to get us to understand what had been said. That period, he had been reading Hamlet to us. He was really appalled when he got to the line where Hamlet meets the players, and they recite the myth of the Trojan War.

"Haven't any of you kids read any sort of Greek mythology?" he asked. He just stared back at his thirty or so students. "I find that hard to believe…and it's a tad sad, to be honest." He sighed.

I really liked this teacher. He was what a shrink would call _eccentric, _but kids my age would call him lame. He dressed in dark colours; mostly he would dress entirely in black, but there were some days when he would were navy blue jeans and a black, button up shirt of some sort. He wasn't really old, but he wasn't exactly young either.

"One of you kid has to know _something_ about Greek myths." He said.

Again, he looked around the classroom, only to see two hands raised; none of them were my own. I did, in fact, know a lot about Greek Mythology; I just decided that making others aware of my knowledge in this particular subject area would just prove to be a nuisance in the long run. I already get beaten up every other day; I don't need anybody else on my ass.

The teacher, Mr. Leary, sighed. "Do any of you know why our friend Hamlet is so upset with Gertrude at this juncture?"

"He's ticked off at her for marrying his uncle?" Christian McNamara suggested.

Leary sighed. "Are you asking me, or telling me, Christian?" then he added, "And, please, try not to say things like, 'he's still ticked off at her."

"Sorry, sir. I meant to say that Hamlet is upset with his mother, because she married her brother-in law so quickly."

"Yes…that is definitely the correct answer," Leary agreed. "But there's another. Do any of you know why else?"

Nobody answered. Leary didn't say anything for the longest time. I think I saw Christian sweating in his seat; his answer had been rejected by the teacher. I knew how the guy felt. But, at least this teacher didn't ask him about _his _dead parents.

"Alright, going back to Greek Mythology," Leary sighed. "Hamlet is also upset at his mother, because he has an Oedipus Complex…I'll spare myself the time asking if anyone knows what an Oedipus Complex is…Just know that Hamlet is jealous, because his father got to have sex with Gertrude, and now Claudius—Hamlet's uncle—gets to have sex with her as well."

"Wait a minute…" Nicole Grimshaw said, catching on to what Leary had just told us. "Sir, are you implying that Hamlet wants to…to have sex with his mother?"

"Indeed I am, Ms. Grimshaw." Leary nodded. "That is what an Oedipus complex is; those psychologically troubled men who wish to have sex with their mothers. The term was coined by Sigmund Freud, and was inspired by the tale of the Greek king, Oedipus."

Leary then went into detail about the myth of the doomed King Oedipus; fated to kill his father and marry his mother. Long story short, Oedipus did, in fact, kill his father—albeit, unwittingly—and married his mother. After realizing what he had done, Oedipus gouged his eyes out.

"It is ridiculous, really." Leary scoffed. "It's saddens me that there isn't a soul amongst you who knows this stuff. Jeez, kids; aliens could be out there, right now, attacking the very planet you live on, and you wouldn't even take notice." He sighed, perhaps for the millionth time that period, and said, "If any of you wish to pass this class, you'll start reading the classics."

The bell rang, and Leary let us go. I overheard a few kids talking about what they had just learned in English; boys wanting to have sex with their mothers. Two of those guys shared a locker next to mine, so I followed them. Along the way, they made fun of one of their buddies, saying that he secretly wanted to sleep with his mother and give his father the axe. Even I had been surprised about what Leary had said. I've heard of Oedipus, but I never thought that such a thing was real…it made me start to wonder about those kids who never knew who their parents were; how would those kids turn out?

"Hey, Tobias!" someone called.

"Oh shit…" I mumbled.

"Looks like he's in a hurry," a second guy said. He was bigger than the other wolf.

I was in a hurry. I had grabbed all the books for my next few classes, and slammed the locker door shut. I started to scurry away, like the prey I really was, hoping that I would get lost in the shuffle. But the wolves were gaining up on me. I would be a delicious snack in a few seconds.

Dramatically, I fell to the floor; my books flying every which way. I heard a few kids laugh, and I saw a few bystanders look on, shaking their heads at what was about to happen. And yet, nobody was going to do a damn thing to stop it…

"Are you ready to go for a swim, Tobias?" one of the wolves asked.

"His buddy Jake isn't going to save him now, right Tim?" his buddy grinned.

"Oh no…I don't see Big Jake anywhere around here."

"You'd better leave him alone." A new voice said. A lioness!

"Shit…the bitch…" the second wolf said under his breath.

A beautiful girl my age suddenly walked over to where I lay on the floor. She stood in between my pathetic form and the two wolves. I couldn't tell from where I had been sitting, but I think she had been giving them a threatening look. Whatever it was, they were scared shitless. These two punks were afraid of Jake, because Jake had an older brother; a junior. But they were terrified of Jake's cousin, Rachel.

"You guys are never going to try something like this again." Rachel told them. "Right?"

"You can't watch him every second of the day," Mitch replied. "You can't protect Toby forever."

"That's not his name," she said angrily. Then, she turned to me. "What's your real name?"

"Tobias…" I mumbled. I think my voice cracked…great!

Rachel gave me a comforting smile and turned back to the wolves. "You're going to leave Tobias alone from now on, alright. Because you know I'm going to be right around the corner when you try again…got it?"

"Yea…yea…" Mitch grumbled, walking away with his buddy. "We were just having a bit of fun. There's no need to get all testy…"

"Was that a joke?" she snapped. "I don't like jokes like that, Mitchie."

"Alright, calm down," his buddy said. "We're going."

The two wolves walked away, looking back every once in a while to glare at Rachel. Rachel ignored them and helped me pick up my books. I dared not look at her, for fear of turning red.

"I thought Jake talked to them already," she said, handing me my copy of Hamlet. "I heard about the…uh…washroom incident. They should be glad that I wasn't there."

I said nothing in response. I shoved the rest of my books into my backpack, but I couldn't get the damned thing to close…the zipper wouldn't budge…

"There are too many books in the bag," she laughed. "Why don't you put the rest in your locker?"

"I like going home early," I lied. But it came out like a whisper, so I doubt she heard me.

"I'm Rachel Berenson." She said. "You probably know my cousin, Jake."

"Yea, we've met." I said. This was the fourth time Rachel has introduced herself to me. The first time had been at lunch, just a few months before, after Mitch and his buddy tossed my books into the trash. The second time had been in the library, where I was hiding from Mitch and his buddy. The third time had been a few days before the dreaded "washroom incident", after her cousin Jake stopped Mitch and his buddy from giving me a swirly…I guess Mitch and his buddy bring people together. They must do wonders during the holidays. Maybe they should start a business, helping families with their problems…

"I've seen you around a lot." Rachel said. We were both on our feet now, and there was a very uncomfortable silence. I guess I don't have to tell you that I'm not exactly a ladies man. If I must be completely honest with you, I'm quite terrified of the fairer sex. I mean, I'm straight; I like girls, and fantasize about girls, but they make me nervous. They have their own way of speaking, and they expect you to say something funny or charming every five seconds. And Tobias the loner—Tobias the orphan—is not a ladies man, by any means.

"Well…I'll see you around." She said cheerfully.

"Yea…maybe." I said, looking into her eyes for the first time. They were blue; it was nice. And when she walked away from me, I swear I thought I would fall back on my ass all over again. There seemed to be a light emitting from her body, as she walked down the hallway, and it was blinding; like an angel that fell from the sky. And she actually spoke to me.

The rest of the day passed by rather uneventfully; which meant I had a pretty good day. Now, I had an entire weekend of neglect to look forward to. I initially planned on spending it at the library. But as I stepped out of the school building I saw Jake with his friend Marco. I wasn't sure if we were friends or not. Sure, he saved me from getting my head dunked into a toilette, but that didn't exactly mean that we could hang out all of a sudden. And I was pretty sure that Marco didn't like me very much. I thought I overheard the two of them talking about Space Invaders. They were going to the mall…

I guess I'll be making an appearance at the mall tonight…

**Hopefully, if capnnerefir is reading this (HA! Doubtful) then he won't mind that I stole his idea for the bold heading at the top of this page. He always starts his neomorph stories with, "Imagine so-and-so morphing into a something-or-other…"**

**I also realize that Tobias already morphed into a red-tailed hawk on the cover of the encounter, but this is a new series, so bear with me. And, like the second quote says, "Forget what you once knew…there's about to be a change in line up."**

**T.M.P**


	3. Making Friends, Meeting Aliens

**Making friends, meeting aliens…**

For much of my life, the mall has been a place of refuge; a sanctuary of sorts, where I could retreat to when things got really bad. I find it ironic that I should think of the mall as a place where I could hide. I mean, there are hundreds of people walking around the mall at a single time, and that's ten times the number of people walking around the hallways at school; so you'd think I would be nervous, being around so many people. But unlike at school, where you were forced to interact with others—teachers asking you questions about last night's homework, the principal asking you who beat you up after lunch, and the guys who beat you up after school—you weren't obligated to talk to anyone at the mall; save for the occasional store clerk. I could walk through the mall and not have to worry about some seven foot tall beast of a guy beating me up. I could just walk into the arcade and get lost in a few of my favourite games.

The mall was just fifteen minutes walking distance from my high school, but a lot of the more lazy kids would take the bus. I enjoyed walking to the mall; it gave me time to think. And at that moment, I had been thinking of the lioness that had saved my life from Mitch and his buddy, Tim. I could understand why she didn't remember me after four chance meetings in the hallways; I wasn't much to look at. If I'm honest with myself, an electrical outlet is more interesting than me. But I couldn't understand why she felt obligated to save my ass every time she saw me. I mean, there were about three dozen other students in that hallway, but none of them even looked twice at me. Rachel, on the other hand, kept coming to my rescue. I don't know if that had anything to do with her personality, or whatever; maybe she just liked playing the protector. Either way, I'm grateful that she chose to protect me.

I couldn't tell you why I get beat up so often; maybe I just annoy people, for reasons that even they can't understand. Maybe it's just my dumb luck. Sometimes, I wonder if I would be more assertive if I had a father figure growing up; someone to teach me how to defend myself, and to give me advice on how to get girls to notice me…things that a typical father would teach his boy. I'm sure my father would never have tolerated anyone touching his son…but, then again, I could be wrong. Like I said, I've never known either of my parents. I have no idea of what they were like, or if they would have raised me differently than my aunt or uncle. Maybe they were _worse_ than my aunt and uncle. Maybe they really were alive, but social services took me away from them, because they were ill-suited parents. The thought that there were people who were worse than my current guardians made me shudder.

Along the way, I caught a glimpse of a bleach blonde, walking home alone. I recognized her instantly as the daughter of my school's Vice-Principal; Melissa Chapman. I'm not very good at reading facial expressions, but I can tell when somebody was sad; and Melissa Chapman looked all sorts of sad at that moment. She was slouching as she walked, which was strange, since I've never actually seen a teenage girl slouch. Slouching was something guys were known for doing; and even then, only certain guys would slouch. She had her backpack slung over one shoulder, and let her right arm hang by her waist. She stopped at a red light, before walking down the street. I know what it's like to feel lonely, or upset. I actually thought about talking to Melissa; maybe I could cheer her up. Then, I came to my senses. I didn't think Melissa would want to be seen with me any ways. And who was I to take pity on someone else?

I assumed that Melissa was walking towards the mall, since I had been walking behind her for at least ten minutes. I swear, the way I had been walking behind her, you would have thought that I was her private stalker. A strange kid walking behind a good-looking blonde girl, wearing all black, and taking slow strides as he walked could only be bad news. Even I started to think it was weird. I decided to cross the street, and took a different route to the mall. Not that it would have made much of a difference.

By the time I got to the front entrance of the mall, I lost complete sight of Melissa Chapman. I wasn't pleased or displeased by that. For one thing, I didn't know anything about Melissa, so walking with her would have been extremely awkward. And yet, I was starting to wish that I had someone walking around the mall with me. Maybe I could have made a real friend, if only I had said a few kind words to Melissa Chapman. Sure, it would have been a bit awkward, but at least I would have been seen with an actual human being for a change. Being alone gets very old, very fast. I made a silent vow that I would speak to the next person that I knew from school.

The mall in my town wasn't nearly as big as most of the places that you would see outside of town. But if you wanted to go to one of the more extravagant places, you would have to take a thirty minute car ride into the city. Our town mall was decent, nothing to sneeze at. It was a good way to spend a Friday night with friends, if you happened to have one of those lying around. This mall had over a hundred stores, but most of them were boutiques and clothing stores; places like Sears or Wal-Mart. There were a handful of kid's places, an arcade—my home away from home— and a book store. There was a large food court, with a Taco Bell, KFC and a Cinnabon being some of the more popular places to eat. I usually avoided the food court, since I was more likely to bump into someone from school.

Speaking of people from school, I spotted a kid I had seen at school a few days before. I was sitting by myself in the cafeteria at the time; a rare sight, since I usually eat by my locker. I noticed a kid my age walking around, looking around the cafeteria to find a place to sit. I took one look at him and knew that he was a new kid. But it had nothing to do with the fact that I've never seen him before; because, really, how many kids can claim that they know _everyone _from their school? No, it was the way he looked that did it. He had all the tell-tale signs of being a new kid: the awkward way he shifted his feet in the middle of the cafeteria; the nervous look in his eyes that reminded me a lot of my own; and that air about him that told me that this kid didn't belong. I thought he would see me, sitting alone; isolated like he was. I thought that the two of us, being natural loners, could become good friends. But he found a seat at an empty table on the other side of the cafeteria. I watched as he scowled while he ate his burger and fries. I never saw David in the cafeteria after that.

I thought about sitting next to David. He was alone again, wearing that same scowl on his face. I started to get the impression that he was generally an angry kid, someone with a short fuse. I stood there, in the middle of the food court, staring at David, and trying to decide whether I should talk to him or not. I know I promised myself that I would talk to the next kid I knew, but I didn't want to bother David. I know I wouldn't be too eager to speak to someone when I just wanted to be alone. Maybe he was having a bad day…there was no need to bother him.

I decided to leave the food court and head to my initial destination; the arcade. I had both of my pockets filled with quarters, and twitching thumbs on both hands. I had my eye on Space Invaders, but there were a few kids lined up to play. I would have to settle for Galacta-Quest, which wasn't nearly as good, but decent. It was your typical space adventure game: you're the hero, and your mission is to blow the crap out of the invading aliens. Space Invaders, not to be confused with its 70's counterpart, was very similar to Galacta-Quest: you're fighting off an invasion by blasting the crap out of aliens. But unlike Galacta-Quest, you had ten times as many weapons, and a variety of aliens to vanquish. In Galacta-Quest, you only had three weapons, and only five aliens to kill. Also, Galacta-Quest was a three-level single player; Space Invaders was a multi-player game.

That's another reason I don't play Space Invaders often; most times you need two players. There were a few times in the past where I could find another kid to play with me, but it didn't happen very often. And I usually waited for someone else to ask me if they could play, not the other way around. I hate asking people to play with me. I always feel as though I'm bothering them; like I was asking them for the sun and moon. Suffice to say, I play Galacta-Quest _a lot._

I walked up to the machine, somewhat disappointed. I put a few quarters into the machine, and watched as the trailer started.

"Are you ready?" the game asked me. "Are you ready to become a hero?"

"Sure, why not." I mumbled, waiting for my game to start. I always hated the trailers. It's like the ones that you see at the theaters. Nobody's paying good money to watch a short clip of something that they don't want to see, they're paying to see the main attraction.

"It won't be easy, guy." The machine warned me. "This isn't your standard human war…this is the big leagues. You're the planet's only hope. You alone stand between hordes of power-hungry aliens and total world conquest."

"You've got the wrong guy," I mumbled. "You're going to be disappointed."

"I hope you're ready for this, kid." The voice in the machine sighed. "Gear up, and get going."

I played the game for a good twenty minutes. Like I said, Galacta-Quest only had three levels; and it's not exactly the most difficult game in the arcade. Once I beat the final boss—some sort of grey reptilian creature that could breathe fire—I walked away from the machine. I noticed that Space Invaders was vacant, so I decided to try my hand at that game. Who knows, maybe I could get somebody to play with me…

"Your ass is so whooped!"

Marco and Jake walked into the arcade, and they were making their way towards Space Invaders. So much for that game…

"In your dreams, my friend," Jake said, grinning at Marco.

"Care to put your money where your mouth is, Big Jake?" Marco taunted, taking out a five dollar bill. "Winner pays for the next five games."

"You're on, shorty." Jake laughed. He inserted a few quarters and turned to Marco. "Let's do it."

_**You did say you would speak to the next person you knew from school, **_a voice in my head said.

_I don't want to bother Jake…And Marco doesn't like me very much._

_**You're wimping out. Your fear of rejection is ruining your life. **_

I watched the two friends playing their game, looking happier than I had ever been in my entire life.

_**You could have friends too, if you would just open up a bit…**_

_It's not only me that's the problem…people just don't like me…_

_**You're making excuses. Has anyone actually said they don't like you, to your face?**_

_Mitch…Tim…half of the guys in my class…yea, they've all said they don't like me…_

_**Rachel likes you…**_

_Rachel pities me…_

_**Just go over there and talk to them; you know you want to!**_

_Of course I want to. But I won't…_

_**Do you want to be alone forever?**_

_Of course not…_

_**Then say something, you idiot!**_

_It would be awkward though…What do you say to the guy who stopped a couple of goons from using your head as a toilet plunger?_

_**Try a simple 'hey, what's up?'**_

_Stuff like that never works for me. I'm not the 'hey what's up' kind of guy._

_**You're making excuses. You're just afraid. You could have spoken to David and Melissa. I mean, they're just like you; desperate for friends…**_

_I wouldn't say I'm desperate…maybe I'm better off on my own?_

_**Are you seriously going to argue with yourself?**_

I must have looked like a complete freak; standing in the middle of the arcade, watching two guys. I took a deep breath, and walked over to where Marco and Jake were standing. I was going to do it; I was going to talk to them. I was going to say, _hey, guys. Would you mind if I played?_ And they would look up at me, taking their eyes away from their game, and they would say…

I walked past Marco and Jake, and they didn't even look up at me.

_**You're a coward, you know that?**_

Yes. I was definitely a coward. All I had to say was hello, but I chickened out. Actually, chicken wasn't the word I would have used, but I don't think my word would be very appropriate. Nevertheless, I was a coward. I was a stupid, gutless coward who desperately wanted to make friends, but didn't want to have to go through all the rejection that might have followed. Saying something like hello to Big Jake Berenson—younger brother of Tom Berenson, who was on the senior basketball team—was like climbing Everest; impossible. And trying to talk to Marco, who already didn't like me, may as well have been the equivalent of taking a quick trip to the moon.

I walked out of the arcade, away from the two good friends enjoying a Friday at the mall. I sulked a bit, walking back towards the food court. I was craving a nice combo meal from Taco Bell. To me, Taco Bell was fine dining at a five star restaurant. My uncle had very little money, so he wasn't going to say, _"hey, Tobias, let's go out to Moxie's for a meal. My treat!" _any time soon. And I still had a lot of money left over.

_No…not the food court…_I thought to myself. _I might as well just head home…call it a night._

I took a sharp left, and headed towards one of the exits by the Sears; that would lead to the parking lot across from the Construction Site. I would have to sneak into my uncle's house before he sobered up and noticed that I was home. If I wanted to get home fast, I would have to take a short cut through the construction site.

The construction site was completely abandoned; with the exception of a bulldozer or two that the city never got around to removing. It was supposed to be some grand office building for a promising business company from out of state, but the company went under. And without much funding from the city, the project had been abandoned. Ever since, parents have told their kids never to step foot near the construction site; it was dangerous, there could be drifters hanging about.

I was never told such a thing. Nobody warned me not to go near the construction site, because nobody really cared enough to tell me. I've heard kids from school complaining about missing out on some underground party, because their parents wouldn't let them go near the site. I couldn't blame the caring parents; the place was a death trap. There were a variety of beer bottles and trash scattered about, and rusted pipes sticking out at odd angles. The site had been abandoned for a _long _time. It should have been left as it was before; as a forest.

It was dark now, and the moon was out. From behind me, I could hear familiar voices; the voices of some kids I knew from school.

"We could cut through the construction site," one of the girls suggested.

"Are you insane?" A male voice cried out. "I don't need some axe murderer chopping off _this _face."

"A face only a mother could love," the same girl replied. They were getting closer now. I was standing pretty close to the site. If it hadn't been so dark, I may have been able to make out their faces. But I didn't need to see them to know exactly who they were. Jake, Marco, Rachel and a girl named Cassie were debating on whether or not they should cut through the construction site.

"Come on Marco," Jake said. "We need to protect the girls."

"As if we need protecting," Rachel replied.

"I pity the axe murderer who tries to take on Xena." Marco laughed. "Hey…I think I see something…"

"I don't see anything…" Jake said. "You're imagining things, Marco."

"No, look; right there." Marco insisted. "Someone is standing _right there, _by the dozer."

"I see him, too." Cassie said. "It's too dark to tell who it is, though…"

"I'm telling you, it's a psycho drifter!" Marco cried. "I'll catch you kids later. I'm taking the long way home."

"Maybe we should follow Marco," Cassie suggested. "The construction site might be too dangerous after all."

"Come on, Cass," Rachel said. "It's probably just some guy having a bit of fun."

"Sorry, Rachel, but I think I'm going to take the safe way home." Cassie said. "I'll call you tomorrow." The shadowy figure that was Cassie ran after Marco.

"I think I'm going as well," Jake told Rachel. "Hey, Cassie, wait up!"

I couldn't be sure, but I thought I saw Rachel hanging back from across the street. The other figures running in the distance were doubtlessly Cassie and Jake, trying to catch up with Marco. I thought that Rachel would cut through the site anyway, being the lioness she was. But she didn't. She called after her friends to "wait up", and ran off into the dark. And I stood by the construction site alone.

I sighed and continued to make my way through the trash, and the dirt, and the concrete, and the beer bottles, and the millions of other sharp pointy things that littered the ground around the site. I nearly nicked myself trying to walk over a busted beer bottle, and I had to grab hold of a rusted pipe to keep my balance. I stopped after hearing an odd _crunch_ beneath my feet. I stepped on a bottle.

"Great…" I mumbled. "Just my freaking luck…Now, I'll have to get a shot…"

I looked up at the sky, and a bright light caught my eye. Too close to be a shooting star, and far too bright to be an airplane. Whatever this strange light was, it couldn't have been more than a few hundred feet up in the air. But it looked like it was getting closer. It looked as though this strange light was heading right towards me. Soon, it would be close enough for me to see just what it was.

It was a spaceship of some kind…Honestly, it was! It looked like something out of Space Invaders, but it was nothing close to those alien spaceships that you'd see in those old movies from the fifties. For one thing, it wasn't round, like the ships reported to have been seen during the thirties. This ship was smaller, and more complex. It was shaped like an egg, but it looked narrow at the end. Attached at the sides were two wings, with long tubes that glowed. The object at the rear of the ship, tail-like in shape, dominated the space craft. It was amazing…it was beautiful…it was coming right at me!

I dove behind a concrete wall a few feet away, watching as the ship touched ground. It seemed to land without making too much noise; like the ship wasn't there at all. But it _was _there. It was far too real to be a dream. A real spaceship had landed in my town, right before my eyes! And, if there was a real live spaceship, then there must be a real live alien! And I was probably the first person on earth to ever see an alien up close!

I wish I had a camera, so I could bring back proof of the alien's existence. I didn't have a camera, of course, but I could have bought a disposable one from the convenience store. But how would I have known to buy one? It's not like I woke up this morning thinking, _note to self, buy a camera to document first sighted landing of extra-terrestrials._ I woke up this morning thinking, _man, I hope nobody kicks my ass today…_

I waited for the alien to come out. I would tell the alien that I meant him no harm; that I was defenseless. But he didn't come out. For the longest time, the ship just sat there. I suddenly came out from behind my hiding place, and walked towards the glowing spacecraft. I stared at it for a moment longer before finally shouting, "You can come out…I'm not going to hurt you…"

There was a moment of silence before I got a response.

((I know.))

I heard the alien…but I heard his voice in my head. He was speaking to me through telepathy; using thoughts as a form of communication.

"Can you come out?" I asked, still unsure of how I was able to hear this…creature in my head. Were all aliens telepathic, or just this one?

((Yes, do not be frightened.)) He told me.

"I won't be scared…" I told him. In some sense, I really wasn't. But there was also a tiny voice in the back of my head telling me to run; run fast!

The door of the spaceship opened, but not in the conventional way. This door slid open with a _whoosh_, and emitted a blinding light from its interior. I could only just make out the shape of the creature that stepped out slowly from the ship. He looked like a centaur, but his fur was blue. His face was oddly humanoid, but nothing close to what a human face looked like all at once. He had four eyes—two in the middle of his face, just above what I believed to be the alien's nose, and two more eyes resting on stalks, placed on top of the alien's head. The most threatening part of this alien was his tail; scorpion-like, with a deadly blade at the end. And the voice in my head was screaming now!

((Hello.)) He said, calmly.

The screaming in my head ceased. I was calm now, no longer feeling threatened by this strange, and seemingly dangerous alien. It had something to do with the way he spoke to me—or rather, the way he didn't speak to me—that did it. Nobody with such a calming voice could be much of a threat…right?

That's when I saw it. Right in the middle of the alien's flank was a deep, gash. It looked fatal, yet the alien didn't scream. He remained composed, and watched me with all four of his eyes.

"You're hurt!" I said, as though the alien was completely oblivious to his own pain.

((Yes, I am dying.)) He told me. He seemed almost accepting of this, like it was a fact.

"I can help you…" I offered. "I could call an ambulance, or maybe…I can try to cover up the wound…or…"

((No, I will die. The wound is fatal.)) He told me.

"But you're the first alien to land on earth!" I told him. "I can't let you die…you can't die!"

((No...I am not the only one.)) He told me. ((There are others here on earth.))

"Others…you mean, like you?"

The alien's next words were still calm, but filled with the utmost resentment.

((They are not like me. They are different.)) And before I could say, _different how?_ He added, ((They have come to destroy you…))


	4. Watching Your Back

**Watching Your Back…**

His name was Elfangor. He was a high ranking soldier in the Andalite military, and he despised the Yeerks. There had been a battle in space between the Yeerks and the Andalites—just one of the dozens of bloody battles that had been fought and lost between these two races over the last few decades. The Andalites were sure they would win. There weren't that many Yeerk ships—Bug Fighters, he called them—after all. But the Andalites were wrong. A powerful Yeerk ship—the Blade Ship—was hidden behind the moon (that's right, the moon!) where the Andalites couldn't see it. There was only a single Andalite Dome Ship in orbit. The Andalites thought they would win the battle.

But the Dome Ship cracked under pressure of Yeerk fire—like, it literally _cracked_! But Elfangor managed to land his fighter on a small, abandoned construction site on Earth, where he met a scrawny teenaged boy named Tobias.

That scrawny teenaged boy was me. I met Elfangor that night, and he gave me a gift. He gave me a small piece of Andalite technology—pretty standard issue where he comes from—that permitted me a power that no other individual outside the Andalite race has possessed; the very unique ability to morph into any other animal by way of touch. It was a power far greater than I could even comprehend. But Elfangor was confident that I'd be successful in defeating the Yeerks. That's right; the fate of the world depended on a scrawny, friendless teenager without a family.

Why did I except the Andalites gift? Why did I agree to participate in a war that I had no hopes of winning? I don't really know. I guess maybe I wanted to prove myself. Maybe I wanted people to start seeing me as a hero. Or maybe I just figured that I had nothing to lose; unlike Jake or Marco, or any of the other kids I went to school with. I was different from any of the others, who listened to their parents and avoided the dangerous abandoned construction site, where an alien _just so happened _to land his fighter. I actually believed I could do it, too! I was kidding myself by actually thinking that I could take on the Yeerks, single handed!

Let me step back and explain a few things first.

The Yeerks are pretty much the size of your average slug; if not a few inches bigger. Elfangor explained the Yeerks by way of thoughts—see, Andalites don't have mouths, so they speak telepathically. And through these thoughts, he explained the Yeerk-Andalite War. He showed me how the Yeerks would crawl through the ear canal—of any given species across the galaxy—and made their way to the brain; where they wrapped their tiny little bodies around the most precious organ of the human—or alien—body and seized absolute control. And once it does that, you lose your freewill. You become a controller. Your family and friends won't know the difference, because the Yeerk has access to all your memories.

Piece of cake, right? I could handle a slug.

That's when the Yeerks showed up. The Blade Ship, joined in by a handful of Bug Fighters, landed a few feet from where Elfangor and I had been standing. And out from the ships poured a whole bunch of the Yeerks foot soldiers—the Hork-Bajir—followed by their pilots—the ravenous Taxxons. And, walking out from the Blade Ship was the leader of the Yeerk invasion on Earth. I realized, the second that his stolen Andalite body walked out from the jet black Blade Ship that I wasn't a hero or a soldier. I was the same, scrawny kid I had been earlier that day, when Mitch and Rick threatened to give me a swirly. The only difference between then and now was that I was aware of the existence of extraterrestrials, and I had a shiny blue cube. And even armed with morphing powers, what could a single teenager do to an army of aliens numbering in the thousands? And that was in the United States alone! I barely had time to register the fact that the Yeerks might have already had Yeerk Pools and fronts set up all over the world! I was just another weak, defenceless teenager.

And I was a scared, weak, defenceless teenager. A scared, little boy hiding behind a wall, without a mother to cry to! And not only was I scared, I was useless too! I just sat there clutching the blue box—the device Elfangor used to give me the power to morph—while a dying warrior was picked up from off the ground and devoured by the monstrous Visser Three—taking the form of an alien that made all those Hork-Bajir and Taxxon Controllers look like Barbie and Ken by comparison! A brave soldier died that night, and all I had to remember him by was a blue cube, a single strand of DNA, and that triumphant laugh that rang in my head as I ran back home!

So, given what I had just told you, you could see why I leapt about twenty feet into the air when Jake snuck up behind me Monday morning.

"Hey, Tobias!" he said, patting me on the back to get my attention. "Whoa, easy there man! Someone's a bit jumpy."

"Sorry about that." I said, blushing. I tend to blush whenever I'm nervous—which means I blush a lot! "I didn't get a lot of sleep last night."

"Do you drink coffee?" he asked. "If you do, I recommend you switch to de-cafe."

Jake smiled to tell me that he was only kidding. I forced a small smile in response, but that still didn't change the fact that I was scared stupid! I mean, I can still hear Visser Three laughing in my head! He was still, somehow ringing in my head, despite the fact that he was laughing through thoughts. Thought speech doesn't really make sound, obviously.

!

I leapt about forty feet in the air. The bell rang for the next period. I managed to keep calm for most of home room—which is weird, since I pretty much suck at math class—but I started to get very jumpy after first bell rang. I kept expecting a classmate to turn around in their seat or jump out at me in the halls wielding a Dracon Beam, or even a gun! I also managed to convince myself that my assistant Principal, Mr. Chapman was really Visser Three in morph, which is ridiculous. Why would a Yeerk want to spend all day in the head of a principal?

Then again, I really had no idea who was a Controller and who wasn't. Elfangor told me that the Yeerks could have around a thousand human hosts by now. So I just had to assume that even Big Jake Berenson could be a Controller with an agenda.

"I think I saw you at the arcade." Jake said, as we walked to the cafeteria. "Were you at the mall, Friday night?"

I started getting really tense when he mentioned the mall. I'm almost sure he noticed it. I didn't think he even noticed I was at the mall. I mean, hundreds of other people from school pretty much ignored me—unless, of course they were bullies with nothing better to do. What was he hiding?

"I was there for a bit." I told him. I decided it was alright to give him small facts. After all, hundreds of high school students spend their Friday nights at the mall.

"Yea, Marco and I were there." He said, laughing. "He thought he could 'whip my butt' at _Space Destroyers_. But I proved him wrong. I had at least fifty points on him."

"Don't you mean Space _Invaders_?" I asked, suspiciously.

Jake looked dumfounded. "What did I say?"

"You said Space _Destroyers_."

"Yea, well I'm surprised that even half of my brain functions on a Monday morning." He said, laughing.

I guess I knew what he was talking about. I mean, I was barely capable of reading the lunch menu on most Monday mornings. So, Jake confused the name of a stupid video game for something else; big deal! There's no need to start pointing fingers and shouting YEERK! Every five seconds.

So Jake and I walked into the lunch line, standing behind six or seven other kids. That only made me more paranoid. I rarely eat the cafeteria. And, even when I did, Jake would just say _"hey"_ and ask me politely if I wanted to sit with him and his friends. I would kindly refuse, since I didn't want to get branded as the tag along friend—unless I was hiding from bullies that day. And now, all of a sudden, Jake and I were talking in the lunch line like we were buddies?

We didn't talk for a bit while we were in line. I guess Jake—or the Yeerk pretending to be Jake—was thinking of something else to say. So I started looking around the cafeteria. There were four girls and two boys in the line ahead of us, and about five other kids—a mix of boys and girls—standing behind us. Four kids bought a slice of pizza. One girl bought a salad. One guy bought a small fry and one kid didn't buy a thing!

I let Jake go ahead of me. I guess I was still paranoid; like I expected the lunch lady to start shooting at teenagers like a tramp or a psycho.

"The pizza looks good." Jake said, smiling at the plump elderly lunch lady behind the counter. He stepped to the left to pay the lady at the cashier. I took his place and counted the little money I had.

"Would…a buck fifty be enough for a small fry?" I asked.

The lunch lady nodded, wearing an especially obvious look of pity on her plump face. I noticed that Jake looked as though he was about to say something—like maybe he would offer to pay for a more expensive lunch item—but knew that it would embarrass me. So Jake just stood outside the lunch line.

_There you go,_ I thought to myself. _Jake can't be a Controller. Did you see that look of sympathy on his face? Did you see the freaking pity? Yeerks don't feel pity; not from what Elfangor told you. Jake's just a regular guy._

I let out a deep breath of relief, knowing that I could trust Jake. I handed the lady at the cashier my chump change and followed Jake to a table at the end of the cafeteria.

We sat down at a table with some kids sitting at the end. There was enough room for the two of us.

And that's when Jake's best friend Marco decided to sit with us.

"Can you believe that the lunch lady wouldn't give me an extra slice, just because I was short fifty cents?" Marco said. "I turned on the charm and everything! I complimented her on her apron. And I even told her how especially pretty she looked in her hairnet today—and nothing!"

Marco looked at me, frowning and asked Jake, "What's he doing here?"

Jake must have kicked him from underneath the table, because Marco started groaning in pain.

"I saw Tobias in the hall." Jake said. "I thought he could sit with us. That's not going to be a problem for you, right, Marco?"

Marco mumbled something that sounded like, "I guess not" and stuffed his mouth with pizza. There was some more uncomfortable silence—which seems to be frequent when I'm around—that was eventually broken with the arrival of Rachel and Cassie.

I tensed up, but not for the reason you think. At the time, I didn't even consider the possibility that Rachel could have been a Controller. I was just really happy to see her right then. Apparently Marco was too.

"Rachel, you're looking especially nice in that outfit this fine morning."

Rachel gave him a suspicious look as she sat down. "I do, do I?"

"Oh yes," Marco said, nodding. "And that top you are wearing is—OW! What the hell was that for?"

"That was for thinking you're funny when you are not!" Rachel replied. "Keep it up, and I'll kick higher."

"Doesn't anyone remember what a compliment sounds like?"

"How come you didn't compliment Cassie?" Rachel asked.

"What am I supposed to say, 'Hey, Cassie, those stained overalls are especially lovely on this fine morning. I especially like how the bird poop matches the whites of your eyes?'"

"I think she looks nice." Jake said, awkwardly.

"Thank you, Jake." Cassie blushed.

"See Marco? This explains why you don't get dates." Rachel told him.

"Are you offering, Rachel?" Marco asked, smoothly. "Because I'm free on Friday."

"If the apocalypse takes place on Friday then I'll go out with you." She promised.

"Ha! There, it's a date!" he grinned.

Rachel rolled her eyes and turned away from Marco. Her eyes met mine for the first time and she smiled warmly.

"It's Tobias, right?" she asked.

_She remembered my name!_

"Yea…it is." I said, blushing.

_She remembered my name!_

"It's nice to have lunch with someone with more than half a functioning brain." Rachel told me, nodding towards Jake and Marco. "It's too late for them. With all the video games they play, I'm surprised they have enough brain cells to walk."

"Come on Rachel, be nice." Cassie said, smiling. "Jake uses more than half of his brain."

"And what am I, chop liver?" Marco asked. "Besides, if memory serves, I beat Jake on the last math test!"

"And you're pretty much flunking everything else!" Rachel retorted. "If memory serves, you spelt cinnamon bun without the extra _n_."

Marco frowned. "I still say there should only be one _n. _I mean seriously, what's the point?"

"He's just as hopeless in science." Jake added. "You should have heard what he said when the teacher asked him about the different states of matter."

"What did he say?" she grinned. "I bet it was some lame joke about gas."

Marco snorted. "Give me _some _credit. I would never make a joke about gas. Gas humour is the least funny of the entire humorous joke in the universe. On the humour spectrum it scores a 2.5, right behind fart humour."

"That explains why you do so poorly in school." Jake said.

"It also explains why nobody ever laughs at his jokes." Rachel added. "I mean, really, barf humour?"

"You laugh now," Marco shrugged. "But in ten years I'll be rich, and you'll be begging me for a date."

Rachel and Marco continued their back and forth of insults—most of them were actually quite amusing—while Jake and Cassie started asking me about my weekend."

"I didn't do much, really." I lied. "You know, same old same old."

"Come on, you couldn't have done _nothing_." Jake pressed. "Not after all the excitement from Friday night."

Then I started getting tense again.

"Why what happened on Friday night?" Cassie asked.

"Apparently, after we left the mall, some people claimed to have seen a flying saucer."

"Really, a flying saucer?" Cassie asked, amused.

"Hey, maybe they've come to take Marco back to the planet with all the apes."

"Have you even seen that movie?" Marco asked. "Or are you just going for cheap shots?"

"If I wanted to take a cheap shot, I would have made a comment about your height." Rachel said, batting her eyes.

And Rachel and Marco started insulting each other some more.

"Anyways," Jake continued. "It was in the newspaper. Everyone's making a big deal about it."

"Everyone?" Marco and I repeated. We looked at each other awkwardly.

"If it's such big news then why haven't I heard about it until now?" Rachel asked.

"Like I said, it was in the newspaper." Jake replied. "Tom was asking me about it on Saturday. He wanted to know if I was at the construction site, or if I saw anyone there."

"What did you say?" I asked.

Jake shrugged. "I told him I saw some kid hanging around, but I couldn't see his face." He shrugged again. "The police think it's just some kids playing with fireworks, but they want to question teenagers."

"I knew it couldn't have been real aliens." Marco mumbled. "A real alien would have landed in a more interesting town. I mean, why come here? What's there to invade? Sure, they could replace us with pod people, but that would just mean an alien copy of myself would have to go to my school, sit in my desk, eat my crappy lunch, and fail my science test. You'd have to be pretty lame aliens to want to invade us."

I couldn't help but laugh at Marco's joke. It was so ironic. He didn't have a clue.

"But even if it was only a couple of kids playing with fire works," Jake continued. "It's still pretty cool to think about, right? A few kids set off some fireworks and scare the entire town into thinking they're being invaded by aliens. I want to meet the kid who did it." Jake grinned.

Then Jake asked me something that started to make me wonder if maybe he was a Controller.

"Hey Tobias, you were at the mall, right? Did you pass through the construction site?"

I looked Jake in the eye, as if I would be able to somehow see the Yeerk wrapped in his brain. But I only saw his eyes.

"No," I told him. "It's supposed to be dangerous."

"My mom tells me that all the time." Rachel said, rolling her eyes. "I don't see was so scary."

"That's because you're Xena." Marco joked.

"It would be pretty cool though." Jake said, seriously. "Aliens, I mean. Could you imagine actual aliens landing on earth?"

"Someone's been watching too much Star Trek." Marco said. "Jake, my man; there's a whole world outside all that sci-fi crap."

"Like you don't watch Star Trek." Rachel snorted.

"Hey, I'm not the one ranting about E.T's and green men from mars." Marco retorted.

"If aliens did land on earth, I sure hope they'd be peaceful." Cassie said. "I really can't imagine why anyone would want to bring harm to us. I mean, we already bring enough harm to each other."

I decided right then that Cassie couldn't be a Controller.

!

The bell rang. Lunch was over. Time to get to class.

"Just great." Marco mumbled. "I really should have studied last night."

Everyone got up and threw their leftovers in the trash. Cassie was making a big deal about the pros of recycling while Rachel watched Marco fumble with his trash. Jake pulled me aside where the others wouldn't hear us.

"Listen, I know you're worried." Jake told me.

I was surprised at that. "You do?"

"It's a bit obvious, Tobias." "I mean, you've been really shaky and jumpy all morning. I mean, anyone can see that you're worried."

"They can?" I said, nervously.

"But you don't have to be worried." He assured me. "What you have to remember is that you have people watching your back."

"I do?"

"Yea, you do." Jake said. "You aren't alone, Tobias."

"I'm not?"

"No, you aren't." he smiled.

Did Jake know about the Yeerks? Did a Controller slip up and expose the Yeerks' secret invasion? Did someone escape from the Yeerk Pool and tell him about the invasion? He said that I had friends watching my back, but maybe he meant allies! Maybe we could fight the Yeerks together? We could expose the invasion together! We could form an underground resistance!

"If you want, I could help you out." Jake said, lowering his voice.

"Do you think we'd be able to stop all of them?" I asked, looking around. "I mean, they could be anywhere."

"Of course I do." He said. "If I tell them to back off, they will. I mean, they know who my brother is."

"Wait…what are we talking about, exactly?" I asked, confused.

"I'm talking about Mitch and Rick." Jake frowned. "I'm talking about punks like Andy and Tap Tap…what did you think I was talking about?"

"I…nothing." I mumbled. "I guess I'm still a bit tired from the weekend and all."

Jake nodded. "Just know that I'm always around, alright." He assured me. "Like I said, I'm always watching your back."

Jake and I caught up with the others. Rachel and Marco were still exchanging insults. Jake and Cassie were engaged in a personal conversation. I was left out, as usual. But that's alright; it didn't bother me. None of those old problems bothered me anymore. Things like homework, school, bullies, and my uncle—those all seemed so miniscule in the grand scheme of things.

Marco walked away, mumbling something about how science class would be the fall of the human race.

Like I said, Marco didn't have a clue.


	5. Feline Eyes

**Feline Eyes**

I was in the air, riding warm pockets of air called thermals. The thermals created from the concrete are the very thing that allows a bird of prey to fly. And that's what I was, a bird of prey. Red-tailed hawks, falcons and eagles need these little updrafts, or else they'd tire themselves out from the constant flapping. But you're probably confused by now. You're probably thinking, "Hang on, wasn't he human just a few minutes ago?" Either that, or you're thinking, "this guy's nuts!" But I assure you, I'm totally sane.

I'm pretty sure that you remember that little thing I mentioned about meeting an alien—the Andalite Elfangor. And, if you remember Elfangor, then you will definitely remember what I said about the blue box—how it would give anyone who touched it the power to morph. Then again, I doubt if anyone could ever forget a detail like that. I mean, it's not every day you hear stories about teenagers meeting aliens with morphing technology.

But I never thought that it would actually work! I knew that I hadn't been dreaming when I met Elfangor—watching Visser Three devour the Andalite was far too real to write off as a very interesting and well detailed dream. But I wasn't so sure about that blue box. I mean, I had it in my bedroom with me the next morning when I woke up, but I didn't expect it to work. I mean, I didn't feel very different. I was pretty much the same old Tobias. If you were given powers by a strange alien, wouldn't you feel different?

Well, eventually, I plucked up enough courage to actually try it. Elfangor showed me what to do through transference of his thoughts to my brain. I saw him acquire some strange looking bird that was native to his planet. All he had to do was touch it, and concentrate. He told me to focus on what the animal was—what it represented, what it meant to me…And, assuming that I followed his instructions correctly, I would be able to become that animal; an exact duplicate of the creature I touched.

My cat Dude was sitting at the edge of my bed, just minding his own business. I loved Dude; he was my best friend. My aunt bought him for me a few years ago when I started living with her. I've always just assumed she bought the cat to shut me up, but I wasn't complaining. Dude was my first friend. Dude never insulted me, or ditched me, or manipulated me—not that he was even capable of insults, or ditching or manipulation.

Dude would be the first animal I would acquire. All I did was pet him. In just started stroking the back of his head like he always enjoyed. He started purring, and I felt the vibrations through my fingers. Dude was a small tabby cat. He was a nice black-brown colour. My cat wasn't really big, but he was very flexible. And he could jump like nothing I've ever seen before! I mean, I've seen cats on TV, but Dude could easily jump higher than any of those TV cats. My aunt had him declawed, which meant that Dude would be stuck in doors. But the best thing about Dude—aside from his loyalty, and how easily pleased he was—would have to be his tail; the way it just swept from side to side like some sort of individual organism.

Dude suddenly stopped purring. That's when I noticed it. He was in some sort of…I guess you'd call it a trance, like one of those people under hypnosis. He was still breathing, which was a good thing, but he seemed like he was asleep; like he had gone limp or something…

Then he stepped out of the trance.

Just as if he had never felt a thing. He just shifted to the side and started purring some more. If I hadn't seen him in the trance I would have thought that it hadn't worked. So, I just closed my eyes like Elfangor instructed me, and I focused on everything that made Dude what he was.

A minute later my arms started to itch. When I opened my eyes, I noticed that both arms had been covered completely in black-brown fur; slick and smooth fur!

I think the morph stopped there. I lost focus, and I was now a scrawny teenaged boy with two very hairy arms. I actually thought it was cool! I wasn't scared or grossed out or anything like that. And, the more I focused on continuing the morph, the cooler it was! I could feel more fur growing on my face and whiskers popping out from the sides of my human nose—which had just started to transform into the snout of a cat.

My ears slid to the top of my head and became triangular in shape. My arms started to shrink and my hands became paws—only my paws still had claws, unlike Dude. And I could feel more fur growing all over my body, covering the pink flesh of the human. It was cool! What had once been chubby, pink flesh was now brown with black striped scattered here and there.

I'll admit, I was caught off guard by the shrinking. It wasn't scary, but it was off putting. It was like falling, but different at the same time. It felt like the ground was rushing towards me. I must have lost four and a half feet in about five seconds. And even after the shrinking came to an end the changes still continued; but they were happening inside me! Organs and bones shifted around or disappeared altogether to accommodate the anatomy of a tabby cat. That was off putting, too. It was eerie how nothing about the morphing process was painful. Morphing sort of felt like a visit to the Dentist. You know that the drill _should _hurt you, but the novocaine blocks out the pain. It was almost like the pain was happening to someone else, but I was still aware of it. I guess it's hard to explain.

But the senses that came with the cat morph were the strongest of all the changes. It wasn't like I was losing my fingers or growing a tail—which was definitely weird. It was like I had been blind and deaf for most of my life, and I had only just discovered the wonders of sight and sound! I could see everything from the fibres of my rug to the cracks in my bedroom wall. I could hear my hung-over uncle snoring all the way downstairs; passed out on his stupid lazy boy. And I was very relaxed. I mean, I've been calm before—when I wasn't worried about getting bullied, or forgetting about a test in math class, or something like that. But in that cat body, taking on the appearance of Dude, I felt…_relaxed_! I started strutting around the bedroom like I owned the place. If the bedroom door hadn't been closed I would have strutted about the whole house.

_Someone was in the room with me!_

I started to get very tense.

I turned around on the spot and looked up at the other creature in the room.

It was another cat, like me. It looked a bit like me: black-brown fur, four paws, a pink button nose…

But this was _my _room; he had no right to be in here! Who did he think he was, barging into _my _room? Did it not know that Tobias and Dude lived here? Who was this strange cat, and why did he look and smell so familiar.

My claws raked forward. I arched my back and felt my fur standing on its end. I started hissing in defense, hoping that this new cat would just back off and get the message. Well, it did. The other cat ran to the door and started clawing at the wood. But it didn't have any claws! What a pitiful excuse for a cat—it had no claws!

It had no claws because a woman took its claws away. She was a horrid woman, with bleached blonde hair that always revealed her true roots. The woman was always yelling about how it clawed at her drapes and she drove the cat to have its claws removed.

But wasn't I that cat? Wasn't my name Dude? Wasn't I Tobias' cat?

No, you're Tobias. You're Tobias the human; Tobias the bully-magnet; Tobias the scrawny, the friendless, the meek…

I was suddenly very ashamed of myself. I was now very aware of the other brain living in my head. I mean, there was my brain—the human, Tobias' brain—and there was the cat brain—Dude's brain. It was like I was two people all at once. But I knew who I was now. I had won control over the cat's instincts, despite myself.

I decided to demorph back into my human body, just so Dude would calm down. He couldn't claw his way through the wood, but he could still make a lot of noise. The last thing I needed was my drunken uncle walking into my room to see two cats instead of one. So I demorphed. I was human within five minutes.

I morphed for the first time on Saturday morning; the day after I met Elfangor. I didn't morph another animal after that, but that wasn't from lack of trying. I just realized that I would have to morph to fight the Yeerks—to save the world from a secret invasion. It's a little difficult to morph when you know that you should really be saving innocent people from certain doom. And I didn't think I could stop a thousand Yeerks by myself.

Then I overheard Cassie telling Jake about an injured animal that her parents had taken into their Animal Rehabilitation Clinic over the weekend. It was a hawk with a broken wing or something like that. That's when I remembered that Cassie's parents were both vets. Her father ran a clinic from their barn and her mother worked at the Gardens, which functioned as both a zoo and an amusement park. And having been brought up by two vets, Cassie knew a thing or two about animals, too. So, who better to talk to about animals?

Of course, I wasn't going to tell Cassie about why I was interested in animals. For one thing, she could have been a Controller—though I highly doubt it. And I couldn't exactly say, _"Hey, can I see a few of your animals? No, it's not for school. I'm saving the world, you see, and I need to touch some animals so I can fight the Yeerks. Who are the Yeerks? They're brain slugs bent on world domination. So, where do you keep the lions?"_

That would have been awkward…

Anyways, I had to wait a good two periods before I could talk to Cassie in class. We weren't friends, so I felt really nervous about asking if I could stop by her place to see her animals. So, instead of paying attention in my next two classes after lunch, I rehearsed my conversation with Cassie. I figured, if it sounded half-way decent in my head, then it couldn't be too bad, right?

"Hey, Cassie." I mumbled, taking a seat next to her. The bell had only just rang, but Cassie was one of the first people to walk in.

"Hello, Tobias." She said, smiling, warmly.

"Hey…" I repeated, lamely; awkwardly.

She kept smiling. She looked like she knew I wanted to ask her something.

"Yea, so I overheard you talking to Jake after lunch—about the injured bird your family took in Saturday night?"

Cassie nodded. "Yes, the red-tail." She said, with a hint of sadness. "We found the poor thing outback. It should be okay in about two weeks, but it's in a lot of pain."

"Yea…well, I've always loved birds." I said, lamely.

Cassie smiled again. I guess she knew what I was about to ask; she just wanted me to ask her.

"Well…I've always like a lot of animals, especially dinosaurs—but you wouldn't have any of those, I guess…"

I made a lame attempt at a laugh. Cassie just smiled politely.

"I was wondering—if you don't mind, of course—if I could maybe, probably, stop by to see them…I mean the animals…"

"Sure." She said. "But we'd have to take the bus. My family's barn is a ways away."

"Cool," I said, grinning like a moron. "Cool…so…I guess I'll meet you after class then."

"I'll be by the bus stop." She said, still smiling.


	6. Jungle Cat

Nobody paid much attention to the red-tailed hawk, slowly circling in the air over the zoo/amusement park. They were too busy with the rides, and the cotton candy, and the animals to bother with something that they saw almost every day. And, I guess they had a right to ignore the hawk. Red-tails are a diamond dozen, when you think about it. Golden eagles are stunning. The bald eagle is the country's national bird and symbol for peace. Even a falcon is something that leaves you with that feeling of being awestruck. But a red-tail is just a fancier pigeon or seagull to most people. Sure, they're nice to see, but it's nothing to rave about.

But there was something about that red-tail at Cassie's barn that just left a significant impression on me. I took one look at it and knew that, somehow, our meeting was no accident. And it looked back at me with this curiosity. I mean, you'd think that a bird would be terrified of a human, especially one that was so close to it. But he was calm. And he didn't seem to mind that his wing was broken. He had Cassie's parents to feed him, take care of him; he had nothing to worry about. And he just kept staring at me with those golden eyes; those piercing golden eyes that seemed to be looking into your soul. Say what you want about a red-tail, I think they're pretty amazing. Eagles may be cool, but in a more arrogant way. Falcons have speed, but that can't make up for its size. The hawk was like a perfect balance of both birds of prey; small, yet a symbol of strength. There's a reason the Native Americans used the hawk as a symbol.

I already told you how cool flying was. But it's something that I just can't get over, you know? It's like riding a rollercoaster. It's like, every time you get on the rollercoaster you feel this anticipation before the ride starts; and once you're on the tracks you get this tickle that you just can't shake off. That's what flying's like, if I had to compare it to anything. But I don't think I could really do it justice. It's something that you have to experience for yourself, first hand.

After I acquired nearly every animal at Cassie's place, I morphed the hawk in the forest out back. I still had a job to do, and I couldn't think of a better time to start. I guess I could have snuck in at midnight, when the security cameras would be on and the guards would be alert. But I figured that few people would expect someone to be walking around a bunch of animal exhibits, touching the animals. After all, the best time to do something covert is in broad daylight, when everyone's looking.

So I was circling about fifty feet above the tallest coaster at the Gardens. I didn't know the name, since I had never been to the zoo before. My uncle never gave me money for anything else but food for the week, so a trip to the zoo was just out of the question. I could hear the kids shouting at the top of their lungs as the coaster zoomed down one of the hills. I could see them, too—that's how amazing the hawk's eyesight is. I could see the backs of everyone on the coaster, the people walking on the fake streets below, and even most of the animals in the exhibits. I just needed to figure out how and where to land and demorph. I had about five minutes left in morph.

There were about a hundred exhibits in the park; which meant that there were a hundred possibilities for morphs. I wasn't sure if there was a limit to the morphing technology. Was I possible to acquire too many morphs? I couldn't be sure. Besides, I didn't think that a lot of the animals at the Gardens would be much in a fight against the Yeerk's shock troops. The red-tail was a decent flight morph—maybe capable in battle if you considered the talons. But what good would a horse be in a battle? I had to be smart about the morphs I chose. I was pretty much alone in this war—at least until the Andalites came.

I flew down to the ground, landing casually on one of the branches of a foam tree in one of the big cat exhibits. I had a wide variety of jungle cats to choose from—the lion, the tiger, a jaguar, a panther and a bobcat. I decided against the lion, despite its power. I figured all that fur would slow me down in the heat of the battle. I needed something with strength and agility. I could have chosen either the jaguar, but something else caught my eye. It was a jungle cat that with large dark spots streaked across its body—rough, irregular spots that had no pattern or clear design. It wasn't the largest cat in the zoo—maybe the smallest in the animal kingdom—but like the red-tail, it caught my eye.

The clouded leopard looked lonely in the mock den the Gardens made for it. There were a few others further away from him, most of them sleeping. But this one leopard was just lying under the shade of a tree across from me. He looked incredibly bored; like he would give anything to just leap over the railing and just run until he felt like stopping for a rest. I took a quick look around, to make sure nobody saw me, and landed behind a mock boulder nearest to the leopard to demorph.

The leopard raised its head, intrigued by this new development. He's probably seen other humans like me coming and going, but never so close. The closest he's come to human contact was feeding time. He didn't strike right away, but he looked wary. He couldn't be sure if I was a friend, foe or prey.

Predators are all alike, you see. Hawks, leopards, lions, wolves—they're always hunting for the next meal. You can never get the best of a predator—not in a physical sense; not when you're prey. The most a mouse or a gazelle could do when chased by a predator is to try to outrun their enemy and hope they can find a place to hide. I had to be very careful with the leopard. If I made one wrong move, I could be a fresh pre-lunch snack for the leopard.

"Easy, buddy." I said, nervously. "I'm just going to acquire your DNA and get on my way…"

The leopard looked back at me with its golden eyes, head cocked slightly. He looked almost amused by this point.

I made a slow attempt to touch his fur; moving at the same pace as dew falling from a leaf at dawn.

The leopard was on the alert now. There was a look of excitement in its eyes.

I backed away from the leopard.

The clouded leopard was on all fours now. He wasn't moving…yet. I guess he was still deciding whether I was worth the effort.

They say that you should try to make yourself look big when facing a bear. Well, let me tell you something: you're not focusing on trying to scare the bear, or the leopard, or whatever big and ferocious animal is about to eat you—you're too busy shouting in your head, wondering whether you should just run or curl up into a ball and hope your predator just leaves you alone and finds something else to play with.

"Nice kitty cat…" I said, walking backwards into the foam boulder behind me.

I had to speed this process up. If I stood there any longer I'd draw attention to myself…Or I would get eaten. Either way, I wouldn't be doing anything productive.

So, I tried to make myself look big.

I started walking towards the clouded leopard, waving my hands over my head, slowly. The leopard didn't move an inch. I started to move closer, bringing my arms a lot closer to my sides; just level with the top of its head. The leopard just stared at me, clearly confused.

I had to act fast.

I slowly made contact with the leopard's fur; only just brushing against the leopard itself. And I did what I had been doing all day—I just thought about the leopard and acquired the clouded leopard.

And, just like the hawk, and the horse I acquired at Cassie's barn, and my cat Dude, the clouded leopard fell into the acquiring trance. I now had about ten seconds to get in and out of the exhibit, before the leopard came to its senses. Morphing alone took me about three minutes, so that was out of the question. I could try knocking out the leopard, but I didn't want to hurt him. So, I did what any person would do in my position—I ran to the nearest exit before the big bad jungle cat would wake up.

Luckily for me, the door to the exhibit—the one the zoo keepers used to feed the animals—was unlocked.


	7. The Legacy Survives

**The Legacy Survives**

I don't remember my dreams. Lately, all I've been getting are quick flashes of the construction site, and the dying alien whose last wish was for me to carry on his legacy and save humanity. But I couldn't make sense of what the dreams were telling me…Sure, I understood the obvious parts: like Elfangor telling me how to use the powers, Visser Three—the tyrannical leader of the Yeerk forces on Earth—and Elfangor's ultimate destruction. Those were obvious because they had been too amazing and horrifying to just blink away.

But then the dream starts to become fragmented…I start hearing voices that belonged to tall, shadowy figures that I could only just see in the dark. The only clear image had been Visser Three; morphed into some alien monster that even I couldn't have imagined. Mostly, the voices were male. One voice in particular was so familiar that I found myself struggling to think of where I had heard the voice whenever I woke up.

I always try to analyze my strange dreams when I finally did wake up…The parts I remembered, anyways.

They always picked up where Elfangor had told me that evil aliens were enslaving the human race.

((Not like me,)) he said, angrily. ((They have come to destroy you.))

My reaction: startled, surprised, stunned. But I didn't question him. His voice—if you could even call the thought speech in which he spoke a _voice_—was too sincere. Besides, when a blue centaur just appears out of nowhere, there's no room for doubt.

((They are called Yeerks. They are different from us. Different from you, as well.))

Yeerks…He described Yeerks to me; two inches long, gray, uninteresting to look at. He put the image in my head, like telepathy! A fat, harmless slug.

((They live in the bodies of other species…))

Hork-Bajir…The gentle, pacifist race that now belonged to the Yeerks. All Hork-Bajir…enslaved and used by the Yeerks as shock troops; taken because of their shocking forms. A race of seven foot tall, dinosaur-like beings covered in blades.

((…They enter the brain and are absorbed into it, taking over the hosts thoughts and feelings))

Taxxons…Evil, vile creatures that willingly submitted to the Yeerks. Just as tall as any Hork-Bajir, but not as threatening. The Taxxons were basically fat worms, when it came down to it. Only, they were much bigger than your average worm. They carry the upper third of their bodies, sucking the air through their round, ravenous mouth. Eyes like jelly and hundreds of sharp, shark-like teeth!

((We had hoped to stop them,)) Elfangor told me, sadly. ((Swarms of their bug fighters were waiting when our Dome Ship came out of Z-space. We knew of their mother ship and were ready for the Bug Fighters, but the Yeerks surprised us—They had hidden a powerful Blade Ship in a crater of your moon.))

Visser Three and his Blade Ship—two of the most frightening things I had ever seen. Both large and intimidating. Both capable of eliminating every inch of you from the face of the Earth. The Blade Ship…Shaped like a medieval battle axe, blacker than the darkest black. The Visser…The only Yeerk to have taken an Andalite host—the only Yeerk capable of morphing, like most other Andalites. The Visser's eyes—two placed in the middle of his face, and two sitting on blue stalks, like Elfangor's. And yet, Visser Three's eyes were nothing like Elfangor's. Where Elfangor's eyes were kind and, somehow, capable of smiling, all you saw in the eyes of the Visser was hatred. When you looked at those eyes, you knew that the end was very near. His eyes were the second most threatening aspect of the Visser—the first being the scorpion-like tail.

"This is too much," I would tell him. "I'm just one kid…There's so many of them. What makes you think I could stop them all?"

His eyes—all four of them—would meet mine, always smiling. ((Yes, you are young.)) He agreed. ((But there is strength in youth. You need not be old and wise to make a difference. All great warriors were once children. There may be something I can do…Quick, enter my ship. There, you will see a small, blue cube. Bring the box to me.))

The ship was always fragmented in my dreams. All I remember was the faint colour of beige of the ship's interior. The only clear image was the blue box. That, and the holographic picture of the alien's family.

((With this box, I will be able to give you some small powers by which you will resist the Yeerks.))

"Powers?" I repeated. "What kind of powers?"

((It is a piece of Andalite technology that the Yeerks do not have. A technology that allows us to pass unnoticed in many parts of the universe—the power to morph. We have never shared this power. But your need is great.))

"Morph…Like…You mean I could transform?"

((Yes, in a manner of speaking.)) He said. ((You will be able to become any animal you touch. But you must first acquire the animal's DNA. It is simple, yet requires determination and concentration. Simply touch the animal, think about the creature, and its DNA will become a part of your own. But there are dangers…Problems…I do not have time…))

"I'll do it." I said. "I'll do whatever it takes. I'll fight the Yeerks."

((You are brave,)) he said, smiling in that odd way that only involved the eyes. ((Here: touch the cube. Touch the cube and you will be able to morph.))

That tingling sensation…The shock I felt surging through my body almost the instant I touched the cube. That was all it took; that simple, quick form of contact. It almost made me want to laugh. It felt almost pleasurable.

Then, I noticed the sky…Those blinking red lights in the sky.

"What's that?" I asked, pointing to the two beams of lights. They seemed to be getting closer.

((The Yeerks…They come. There's not much time. There's only one piece of information I need to give: the flaws to the morphing technology. You must never stay in one morph for more than two earth hours; otherwise, you will be trapped in that body, forever. Do you understand?))

I nodded.

((Good. Now run. The Yeerks will be here soon.))

"No. I can help you. Just tell me what I need to do."

He smiled, again. ((No, you must run. I have little time left.))

And, suddenly, I was crying again.

"Please…You can't die. I…I don't want you to."

((Do not worry for my demise, my friend.)) He said. ((The Yeerks may bring harm to my body, but I would rather face a thousand deaths than have the Yeerks enslave my people, my planet, and those I love.))

He stared into my eyes really hard. I got the sense he was trying to tell me something. But I didn't know what message he was trying to convey through his little speech.

((What is your name?)) He asked, finally.

"Tobias." I told him.

((Tell me about your mother, Tobias.))

That part caught me off guard. Why did he want to know about my mother?

"I don't know much about her. She left me when I was just a kid. I'm told she couldn't take care of me."

Now it was his turn to look hurt. He looked sad. His strange way of smiling was gone now.

((I am sorry, Tobias…)) He said, genuinely.

I made a feeble attempt to shrug it off.

((I am sorry I cannot help you.)) He sighed. ((If only there was more…))

"You've done all you could." I told him. "I understand.

Again, all for eyes met my single pair. And I soon received broken images—pieces of crucial information that the Andalite couldn't tell me on his own. An image of a dark, horrifying place with never-ending pools of sludge. Inside these pools were Yeerks. The Yeerks were swimming…They were doing something…

Another flash…Some sort of device…hidden. Something about the device…It was important to the Yeerks. The word Kandrona stuck out in my head. _Three days,_ the Andalites voice told me. _The Yeerks must feed…_

((There is one last thing I ask of you, Tobias.)) Elfangor said.

"Yes. Anything."

The Andalite tried to get to his feet…But then pain overtook him and he fell back on to the dirt. So, he offered his arm.

I knew what he wanted to do.

"Are you sure?" I asked. "I mean…I'm honoured…But.."

((No. It is my honour, Tobias.)) He said.

It was almost profound, my acquiring the Andalite. It didn't feel like I was just acquiring his DNA, but his entire essence. It was like I was saving that last piece of Elfangor that the universe knew; keeping the alien alive for two hours at a time. He seemed to fall into a trance during the process. At first, I thought I had killed him. But he snapped out of it quickly.

((Now run, Tobias.)) He urged me. ((You do not want to see what's to come.))

I ran. But I couldn't just leave him to die. I hid behind a low, concrete wall, about ten feet away from where Elfangor was.

The swarm of Bug Fighters landed near Elfangor's own ship. Out came the Hork-Bajir and Taxxons—what Elfangor called Controllers. Then the Blade Ship touched ground. Suddenly, all the Controllers looked as though they were waiting for some big event.

That's when Visser Three strutted out of his ship.

I remember hoping that the Visser couldn't hear the screaming in my head.


	8. People Are Strange

**People Are Strange**

It's weird going to school every day, pretending that everything is normal, you know? I mean, if things were normal, I'd be getting my head shoved into a toilette, or stuffed into a locker every other day.

Don't get me wrong. I still get beaten up every so often.

But ever since that night at the construction site I've noticed a great deal of change in my school. Nothing was the same anymore. The guys who normal pick on me have backed off; mostly due to Jake's recent intervention. Sure, every once in a while, a couple of punks skipping class will pass me by in the hallway, but it doesn't happen as often as it had in the past. And I'm sure it has nothing—or, at least, very little—to do with the changes in me. After all, you couldn't just look at me and say, "Hey, that kid just discovered that aliens exist!"

I don't know. Maybe it has something to do with the way I've been carrying myself lately. Or maybe it had something to do with my odd friendship with Jake. He's been a lot friendlier to me as of late. I mean, he's saying hello to me when we pass by each other in the halls; he sits at the same table with me at lunch sometimes; and a bunch of other little things that he wouldn't have done before.

Maybe I'm just a little paranoid…Ok, really paranoid. But something is really off. After all, it was not totally impossible that Jake was one of them. Elfangor said that the Yeerks could pass off as their hosts, almost effortlessly. So, Jake's sudden eagerness to make friends with the school's local loner may be hinting at something, right? I mean, why else would he want to hang out with me, unless he suspected I was up to something?

But it's not only a few people acting suspicious that makes going to school feel weird. Just knowing that anyone I associated with or passed by in the halls could be a human-Controller working for Visser Three was terrifying enough to make school more awkward than it usually was. The nightmares I'd get late at night often resulted in my sleeping during some important classes—which is only bound to get a teacher's attention—also didn't help. And I found myself rethinking my entire existence, you know? Up was down, left was right, aliens existed…All over the course of a few days.

After meeting an alien, did math class really matter?

I mean, for all I knew, what we were learning in school was completely wrong. Who's to say that we're teaching physics the right way? What if 2 plus 2 didn't equal four? Maybe man didn't land on the moon. I mean, how could I be sure about anything anymore?

That's another thing: I found myself becoming more and more apathetic as time went on. Things just started to get pretty heavy, and I hadn't done a lot. Aside from breaking into a zoo and acquiring some animals, what had I done to stop the Yeerks? A fat load of nothing. And it didn't help that Visser Three could announce the invasion of Earth at any moment! Hell, I could be taking a math test, only to have Hork-Bajir burst into the building, grabbing anyone who wasn't already a slave to the Yeerk Empire. It all just seemed so big; I felt so small, by comparison.

So, yea, every once in a while I'd have this "I don't care" attitude going on. Even on the occasion where someone had decided to kick my ass, I barely resisted. I guess that's kind of poetic, when you think about it. It's a metaphor, really. My apathy may as well have been acceptance that the Yeerks had taken over. It was like walking right down to the Yeerk Pool and saying, "Mind if I take a dip? I promise I won't put up a fight."

And, by the way, I was no closer to finding the Yeerk Pool than I was to finding the Lost City of Atlantis. I knew a few things: 1) The Yeerks needed to soak up particles from their home world every three days, via Kandrona ray, or suffer death, 2) the Pool must be hidden somewhere ordinary humans couldn't accidentally stumble upon, and 3) the entrance—or entrances—to said Yeerk Pool could be anywhere. No matter how much I thought about it, no matter how often I convinced myself that I had been making progress, I had no choice but to admit that I had no clue of what I was doing.

And, one day, it just got to be too much to handle.

It was about two weeks after I crossed through the construction site and met Elfangor. I had started off my day to realize that I had forgotten to go shopping the previous night, and had nothing to eat for breakfast. And I was kindly reminded by my uncle that I had messed up, yet again. I don't need to remind you how much of a nice guy my uncle is.

The day continued with my flunking a test in English class, and getting back an essay that was mediocre at best—my words, not my teacher's. And it was due to my sudden academic decline that I was to meet Vice Principal Chapman in his office during my lunch period.

I knocked on the door to the Vice Principal's office.

"Come in." He said from behind the closed door.

I took a nervous breath and opened the door, walking into Chapman's office.

"You wanted to see me, sir?" I said, as innocently as possible.

Chapman looked up and smiled. "Ah, Tobias." He said, warmly. "Please, take a seat."

I was a little thrown by his attitude. Wasn't I in some sort of trouble?

"I understand that you've been having an off week." He began. "These recent complaints from most of your teachers have…well, to be honest, they've all been rather unusual and…er…somewhat negative."

"Like you said…I guess I've been having an off week." I shrugged. "Isn't that normal?"

"It isn't unusual for students to start slipping in their academics," he agreed. "However, from what your teachers have told me you seem to be generally uninterested. You've been caught, numerous times, sleeping in class; you've been handing in late papers; and your teacher, Mr. Leary, has told me that you've failed your last test. I understand, from your records, that you excel in Mr. Leary's class."

I said nothing. There was nothing I could say that would excuse my actions over the past few weeks. So, I just waited for him to continue.

Chapman leaned in really close. "Have there been problems at home, Tobias?"

I actually snorted at that.

"Yes…Well, I understand that your domestic situation is…unusual. But have there been any…er…aggressive disputes between you and your uncle?"

"He hasn't been beating me, if that's what you mean." I said, honestly.

"Ah, well, I supposed that's always a plus," He said, forcing a smile. "But have there been any…changes in your day to day routine? Anything that would affect your school work?"

"What do you mean, exactly?" I asked, nervously.

He shrugged. "Have you been on any strange medications that might cause fatigue or apathy?"

I shook my head.

"Have you been going out late? Have there been any changes to your sleep patterns?"

"Not really…"

He eyed me, suspiciously.

"There's the occasional nightmare…But that's it, really."

"I see…You aren't using drugs, are you?"

Again, I said no.

"Well…I guess I have to take your word for it." He sighed. "But I cannot allow myself, as an educator, to let your recent actions continue. If you wish to avoid academic probation, I suggest you focus more on your schooling."

I nodded. "I'll be sure to do that, sir."

"Yes. Let's hope so." He said. "You know Tobias, my door is always open, should you wish to discuss any problems you may be facing. I know I'm not a guidance councillor, but I'd like to think I'm somewhat capable of spitting out some good advice. But, if you wish to speak to someone who knows where you're coming from—someone your own age, perhaps—then may I recommend you look into joining the Sharing?"

That was weird.

"The Sharing?" I repeated. "The social group?"

"Yes. I'm sure you've heard my announcements." He smiled, proudly. "It's a great program, really; especially for people like you."

"Oh, you mean a charity?" I said, defensively.

Now Chapman looked troubled. "Of course not." He said, quickly. "No. I simply meant people your own age…People who may find it difficult making friends. Of course, we never force people to join the Sharing. Just know that my door is always open, if you'd like to talk."

I nodded. "Alright…Thank you, Mr. Chapman, I'll be sure to do that."

By the time school let out, I found myself stuck with a five paged report, and about three pages of math homework due the following day.

Suddenly, I didn't know which was worse: academic probation, or the Yeerk Invasion. Either way, I'd be treading some pretty deep waters.


	9. The World on Both Shoulders

**Author's Note: **

**This chapter, as well as Betamorphs 1: The Beginning, was inspired by the Nick production of Animorphs: the TV series. Yes, we all despise the show. But I do think that there are parts of the television series that was done really well. My two favourite episodes are episodes sixteen and seventeen—the former, an episode simply entitled **_**Tobias, **_**while the latter was an episode loosely based on **_**Megamorphs 4: Back to Before **_**(the very episode that inspired this Fanfic). **

**I loved the **_**Tobias **_**episode because it gave us an opportunity to sympathize with Tobias—despite the fact that Nick's portrayal of Tobias has our favourite character acting like a spoiled brat, rather than a thoughtful loner—as well as background. But I really loved the discussion between Tobias and Fred towards the second half of the episode. I liked it so much that I pretty much took that very speech and used it as motivation to keep Tobias in the fight. **

**So, for the first time in my Fanfic career, I will add a disclaimer:**

_Disclaimer: I do not own anything Animorphs related. All characters, terms, and such belong to Katherine A. Applegate, Michael Grant, and the Scholastic Team. The dialogue between Tobias and Fred was taken from the Nick TV adaptation of the Animorphs series—episode 16: Tobias. _

**The World on Both Shoulders**

I didn't bother going to my uncle's place right after school. It was bad enough that I had a lot of homework to catch up on; I didn't need to look after a hung over middle aged man, too. So, I just decided to what I usually did to relieve stress—at least what I've been doing over these past few weeks.

I morphed the red-tailed hawk.

It was such a great morph. All I had to do was find a secluded place, stash a bag of my clothing in a bush or something—I still hadn't figured out how to morph clothing yet—and start the morph. And I don't need to go over how bizarre morphing was. Within three minutes I was back in the sky; my real home. And boy was it great. For me, flying was something that just never got old. It wasn't like a hobby, or anything. With a hobby, you'd be focused on this one thing for a few weeks at a time, but eventually get bored of whatever it was you were doing.

That's not the case with flying. It's exhilarating! It's exciting. It's pure freedom! Do you have any idea what pure freedom is? Freedom is riding the thermals and floating over the heads of dozens of poor saps who could never share those experiences with you. Flying is knowing that you're part of something really special. You aren't ever bound by the laws of physics. When you're a hawk, you fly. I mean, you really soar in the air! If you want to rest, you perch on a tree branch. But, before you know it, you're back where you belong; up in the sky, watching the world unfold beneath your wings.

It's cool.

And it bugged me that I could only retreat to this body for two hours at a time. I really hated having to demorph and return to my own life, you know? It was like walking back into a prison, voluntarily. I wasn't happy in my human form. Whenever I wasn't flying, I was thinking about flying. I'd never think about going back when I'm in my hawk form. Only when I caught a glimpse at the time would I suddenly force myself back to reality.

One time, a few days ago, on a really glorious afternoon—where the thermals were just perfect—I almost didn't get out. I had almost broken the one important rule of morphing- overstaying the two hour limit. And, you know what? I didn't mind so much. Like, I was flying around town, when I suddenly noticed the time on the big clock at the mall. I had about two minutes left in morph.

And I wasn't worried or anything, you know? I just thought _oh, has it really been that long?_ I was really nonchalant about it. It was like I didn't care if I had to live the rest of my days as a bird. And it was very tempting: forgetting about humanity and the invasion; just become a hawk and let the world fall prey to the Yeerks. After all, I wouldn't be human anymore. I wouldn't have to worry about being invested. I wouldn't have to worry about bullies, or my uncle, or academic probation, or anything like that. I would be at the top of the food chain; a predator on constant alert for terrified prey. I would be the hunter for once, not the hunted.

And I could fly for as long as I wanted!

Yea, I'll be honest; I had a lot more reasons to trap myself as a hawk than I did for remaining a human. I guess it's pretty sad when you'd rather be a bird than a human. But I didn't go that route. I didn't trap myself in the end.

You're probably wondering why. Why would Tobias, the friendless boy without a family or anyone close to a loving guardian choose to stay as a lonely human boy? Why would he choose to go to school every day when he could be so much more?

Well, there are two reasons, really. One was the memory of the dying Andalite, Elfangor. The image of his wounded body lying there before Visser Three was enough to get me out of my funk. Elfangor's image in my head reminded me that there were other defenceless people out there, all at the mercy of the Yeerks. And I wanted to trap myself as a hawk and turn my back on humanity?

That was what got me out of the hawk body. Thinking of Elfangor was enough to convince me to demorph. But there would always be that temptation. There would always be that voice in my head, telling me to go through with it—to trap myself in morph- whenever life got too overwhelming I'd return to the hawk. And I was starting to worry if I'd ever get out the next time things got to be too much.

The second thing that got my head back into the game?

Well, after I demorphed and put my clothes back on, I found myself feeling a bit depressed. I still didn't want to go home and face my rather large pile of school work. I would just spend my time daydreaming, thinking about flying. So I did the one other thing that took my mind off of the difficulties of being a lonely teenager.

I went to the arcade.

Unfortunately, it wasn't the same. Like it had been at school, the games I played at the arcade just seemed…pointless. And, no matter how many games I played, I just couldn't get into it. There was a time when the arcade was a magical place, a refuge for me. Now it was just one of the many places that had changed. Nothing was the same anymore. And that thought made me all the more depressed.

That's when he showed up.

I was sitting down at one of the tables further away from all the arcade games. I buried my head in my arms and felt sorry for myself.

"You look like someone who's carrying the fate of the world—right there, on _both _shoulders."

I looked up to see a man, who looked as though he worked at the arcade. He looked like he was in his fifties; black, with a scruffy little beard. His smile told me that he was friendly enough. He reminded me of one of those sitcom characters you'd see on TV—the friendly soda jerk that the kids always turned to for advice.

I sighed. "I guess it's going to be there for a while."

He frowned at me. "And why's that?"

I looked back at him. "I don't know…I guess you carry the world on your shoulders when…you're the one that's got to save it."

He laughed a bit. "Ah, so you're the one."

I looked back at him, suspiciously. Now, he could have been kidding around. But I've been extremely paranoid as of late. I tried to keep that paranoia hidden, just to see where he was going with this.

"I guess I can sympathize." He smiled, taking a seat next to me. "I guess, whoever would depend on one person to save the world would be…kind of crazy, don't you think? It sounds to me like you need to join forces."

I snorted in response. "Yea, I'm not exactly a team player."

The soda jerk raised his eyebrows, as if in disbelief. "You really think so, huh?"

"I guess. I mean…" I shrugged. "Look, I didn't ask for any of this to happen, you know? Things just…seem to happen to me. I mean…I wasn't happy with things before…But this is all too much. Sometimes I just wonder…why me?"

"Yea…I know what you mean." He said. "But you know what I always say?"

"What?"

He was still smiling. "Things happen."

I rolled my eyes as politely as I could. "Yea, yea. Things happen for a reason."

"Is that what you think?" He laughed, loudly. "You think that there's some mystical being out there, playing around with you for kicks? Naw. Life doesn't work like that, kid. Nobody's out to get you. It's just…life."

I gave him this little look that said, _you want to bet?_

"You know what you should do?" He said. "You need to stand up to these problems. Whatever's getting you down…You need to show them that you aren't going to sit around and let them get the best of you. Otherwise, you'll just be coming back here, day after day, feeling sorry for yourself. And…if you do stand up to your problems, you may just find the answer to your question."

He got up from the table and started walking away.

"Wait—what question?"

He stopped and turned back around. He was still smiling that mysterious smile—that Elfangor-esque smile that reached his eyes.

"What question?" He repeated. "Why me? That's the question. You figure that out, and I'm sure you'll be fine, kid."

I couldn't help by laugh. Maybe he had some kind of a point.

"Yea…Thanks…um…"

"The name's Fred." He said. "And don't mention it."

I expected him to leave, but he stuck around a while longer.

"So, kid. Are you going to save the world?"

"Yea…Maybe I'll give it a shot."

He nodded in approval and walked away. I only looked down for a second, about to ask him another question, but he was gone when I looked back up.

Nobody else seemed to notice his disappearance. Maybe I'm crazy. Maybe there was no Fred; no soda jerk that gave advice to teenagers down on their luck. I guess it didn't matter. Real or not, Fred gave me a reason to keep fighting. In that brief, simple speech, I found something like hope; motivation to go on doing whatever it was I had to do to save the world. It was a relief to finally be able to talk to someone about some of the things going on in my life.

Every once in a while I'd drop by the arcade, asking if Fred was in. But nobody knew of a guy named Fred working at the arcade.

\


	10. The Recruit

**The Recruit**

"So, you ready for me to kick your butt at Space Invaders tonight?"

"I can't. I promised Tom I'd go to a meeting at the Sharing tonight."

"The Sharing…Tom's Sharing…The group of super-happy camp goers that you called a cult a few weeks back?"

"I know, I know." Jake said. "I don't like it either. But Tom's been bothering me for months. I figure he'd stop if I just attend one meeting." He closed the door to his locker. "Besides, it would give us a chance to hang out."

"I guess." Marco said. "Still…Any group that's run by our Vice-Principal can't be good, Jake."

"Did I say I'd be hanging out with Chapman?"

"No. But who knows," Marco shrugged. "Maybe you guys will bond over volleyball. Sooner or later, you'll be at the arcade with Chapman playing Space Invaders."

Jake laughed. "That's exactly what I'm planning, Marco. I'm going to replace you with my Vice Principal."

Marco said something I assumed was meant to be a joke, but I was out of ear shot. And my hearing wasn't the greatest throughout the entire conversation. You see, I was in fly morph, doing some recon on people at school. Mostly, I was trying to scope out who was a controller and who wasn't. But I was also looking for recruits. That's the main reason I was buzzing around Jake Berenson's locker.

The fly is probably the most disgusting creature on the planet. I mean, it's bad enough to actually have to touch one—if you're skilled enough to catch a fly, that is—but to actually _become _a fly is probably the single most disturbing experience in existence. The fly's eyes are distorted—like seeing through a hundred tiny television sets with messed up colours. The hearing is worse. You don't actually hear what's going on around you; not like a normal person would hear something. Basically, when you're a fly, you hear through the vibrations around you.

Aside from discovering how disgusting a fly's life really is, I had learned very little about Jake.

I couldn't tell if he was a controller. Doing so would involve trailing one kid for three days to see if he went to the Yeerk Pool. I mean, technically, I could follow Jake. I doubt that my uncle would notice my absence, what with his alcoholism. But I still hadn't caught up on all of my assignments. Sure, saving the world meant that school would need to take a backseat, but that didn't mean I was going to flunk out. Besides, I didn't need another meeting with Chapman.

That's another little project of mine lately: trailing Chapman. I wouldn't have thought anything of it if Chapman didn't call me into his office about a week before. The last thing he said to me before I walked out of the room had something to do with the Sharing. And there were flyers for the meeting all over the school, too—all of them pretty much saying the exact same thing, really: "Join the Sharing. Be yourself…Only better."

Jake's conversation with Marco made me all the more suspicious of Chapman. The man was the head of the Sharing—the same organization that Tom attended. From what I had just overheard, Tom has been trying to get Jake to join for some time. And Jake finally gave in.

Now, a few months ago, I wouldn't have given the Sharing a second thought. Hell, from what they seem to be advertising, it didn't seem like such a bad place to meet people; make some life-long friends and all that. I mean, the pictures of the people on the flyers seemed to be having a good time. And they did a lot of cool things—barbeques, bonfires, camping trips…all the fun stuff I never got to do because I didn't have the money or friends to participate.

But I wasn't the same kid. I was a very paranoid, jumpy and suspicious kid now. The fact that Chapman and Tom were speaking so highly of the Sharing just made me all the more paranoid, jumpy and suspicious. These Yeerks wanted hosts badly. Elfangor told me that they'd use any method possible to get more bodies for their Empire. Jake called the Sharing a cult. Well, maybe it was, in a way.

I had to make a decision. I needed to check out the Sharing. And that could be difficult. If it was a secret front organization for the Yeerks, then I would be in the lion's den; surrounded by Controllers, just waiting to take another possible host body.

But I'd have to think about that later on. Right now, I needed to demorph.

Zigzag, zigzag…That's how a fly moves around: in a series of seemingly random movements beyond the fly's control. This body seemed to want to go in every direction at once. Every beat of my little fly wings took me one way, and then another a split second later. And the smells! I could smell all sorts of things—things that I didn't want to think about, if the fly brain was so interested. And the vision didn't help. It definitely took some getting used to. In a split second, I had to decide on which door led to the men's room—right or left?

Which sign meant what again?

Suddenly there was movement!

It was fast—so fast that it made my fly body zip and zag out of control. Suddenly, I wasn't in front of the bathroom doors anymore. Now I was in a forest! It was a forest of tall, black trees. With small, white creatures hanging from the black trees. The fly's brain was confused. But the human brain inside the fly's body knew better.

I was on top of someone's head.

Also, that someone wasn't alone. I sensed at least two other bodies in that room…Wherever we were. And I heard a sound that reminded my human brain of laughter.

It was the oh-so familiar laughter of the bully.

Correction: bullies.

I flew off the head of one of the guys.

Once I was in the air, I got a pretty good look at what was going on. For starters, I figured out that we were in the men's room. My eyesight was lousy, but I recognized the people in front of me. The kid whose head I had just flown through was named Tap-Tap. With him was a shorter guy, a greasy looking brunette, named Andy. The poor sap they were pushing against the bathroom wall was new to our school—a kid I had seen at the mall the night I crossed through the construction site.

David.

"Do you mind?" David snapped, pushing Andy away.

"Hey, Tap-Tap, this kid has a back bone." Andy laughed. "He's not like the other guy we usually beat down."

"Nice change of pace, don't you think?" Tap-Tap nodded, cracking his knuckles. "But he can't be much tougher than the others. A wimp's a wimp, just the same."

Andy and Tap-Tap walked menacingly towards David, forcing the poor kid to back into the concrete wall. I couldn't tell if David was scared. If he was, he didn't look like it. He stood tall—not much shorter than Tap-Tap, really; just unfortunate enough to walk around the halls alone. He might have stood a chance if it was just one on one. But with both Andy and Tap-Tap standing there, I couldn't predict how David would fare in a fight.

David readied himself, as Tap-Tap went in for the swing.

He ducked. Tap-Tap's knuckles slammed hard against white concrete.

"Son of a…" Tap-Tap mumbled.

Andy grabbed David and held him in place. Tap-Tap recovered quickly and started wailing on David.

I started buzzing around the washroom, looking for an exit. I wouldn't just leave David to suffer a beating that I had experienced countless times before. I just needed a place to demorph. I needed to get help. But I couldn't demorph in the bathroom—not in plain sight. One of them could have been a Controller.

I forced my wings towards the bathroom door. I'd have to fly underneath the door crack.

Suddenly, I was zigzagging around in the air again. Someone had opened the bathroom door. But I was too dazed to make heads or tails of my surroundings. If only the fly had better sight!

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Someone snapped. It was definitely a guy.

"None of your business." Tap-Tap retorted.

"It's definitely our business." One of the newcomers disagreed. "Now, you two are going to get out of here, and you're going to do it fast."

"Is that a threat?" Andy snarled.

"Yea." The first guy said. "Yea, it is. Do you want to know what's going to happen if you don't stop?"

"I'll give you a hint: someone's going to get hurt, and it's not going to be either one of us." The first guy's friend said. "Now get lost. Or we could make things very difficult for the both of you."

Some time passed. Neither group said a word. David was on the floor; the scruff of his shirt was still in Andy's balled fist.

"Fine. We're leaving. Whatever." Tap-Tap mumbled.

"Good. So get going."

I landed on the sink, to get a better look at the scene. Five men in a tight formation. David, lying down on the ground, now free from Andy's grasp. Tap-Tap and Andy, walking away from David. And two very athletic-looking upperclassmen, whose names I didn't know.

Once Andy and Tap-Tap were gone, one of the athletic guys took David's hand.

"I figure you need some help?"

David ignored the guy's hand. He pulled himself to his feet on his own.

"I could have handled it." He mumbled, walking towards the sink.

The fly's instinct told me to move; so I did. I flew around David's head and landed on the stall door behind him.

"Didn't look like you were doing so hot to us." The other guy said, laughing.

"Yea…Well, I would have handled it myself if there had been one of them."

"Fair enough." The second guy said. "My name's Danny. This is Troy."

"David."

"Cool name." Troy said, leaning against the stall door. His blonde hair smelt like he had doused his head in a ton of product. I smelled something that vaguely reminded me of citrus.

"I guess." David mumbled.

"That's right, you're new here." Troy said, snapping his fingers. "That's why we don't recognize you."

"Yea." David replied.

"So, I guess you haven't had much of a chance to meet people, right?" Danny asked.

David shrugged.

"Well, there's this great place called the Sharing." Danny told him. "It's perfect for guys like you…You know, new and all. It's a great place to make friends."

"You don't say." David said, sounding very uninterested.

"Yea, man. It's a great organization." Troy agreed. "We do a lot of charity work. But we do a lot of fun stuff, too. You know, recreational stuff, like basketball games, swimming…stuff like that."

"We're also known for our beach parties." Danny added. "Now, if that's not a reason to join, I don't know what is."

David looked back and forth between Danny and Troy. "What are you guys, the welcoming committee?"

Danny and Troy laughed.

"Funny kid," Danny said.

"We have a lot of funny kids at the Sharing."

"Right…" David mumbled. "Well…Thanks."

David walked towards the door. Danny grabbed him by the shoulder.

"Look. It couldn't hurt to check it out, you know? I mean, you can't just walk around high school getting your ass kicked every other day. The Sharing was made for people like you."

"People like me." David repeated, obviously insulted.

"People like you." Troy said, firmly. "And members of the Sharing look after their own."

David had nothing to say in response.

"Here. Take my card." Troy said, digging into his pockets. He pulled out a small piece of white cardboard. "That's my number. If you're ever interested in coming for a meeting, just to check things out, feel free to call me."

David took the card and looked at it. Troy and Danny made themselves scarce.

David was, for all he knew, alone in the bathroom. He did something I didn't expect him to do.

He put Troy's card in his pocket.


End file.
